Partnering 4Health Combats Chronic Diseases in Urban Areas

10/25/2017, noon | Updated on 10/25/2017, noon

Partnering4Health, a the three-year grant funded project by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently provided 20 million people with more nutritious foods and opportunities to live in smoke-free environments to limit chronic diseases and sustain healthy living.

Partnering 4Health Combats Chronic Diseases in Urban Areas

By Christopher Shuttlesworth

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided funding to five national organizations from 2014- 2017, to combat chronic diseases in 94 urban and rural communities and helped 20 million people receive nutritious foods, physical activity and live in smoke-free environments.

The three-year grant funded project known as Partnering4Health, provided communities with more access to healthy food and beverages sold at corner stores, vending machines, food trucks, farmers markets and new community gardens, according to a Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE) press release.

Before the Partnering4Health project was introduced, “more than one third of adults (36%), or about 84 million people, were obese, including about one in six youths (17%) ages 2 to 19 years, according to the CDC.

Doreleena Sammons Hackett, executive director at Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE), said tobacco use, the lack of physical activity, and poor nutrition are three behaviors that can lead to cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

“The lack of walkable space and safe streets and neighborhoods certainly contributed to these conditions as well as the lack of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables,” Hackett said. “These unhealthy behaviors can be corrected, once started, but more importantly they are preventable.”

She continued to explain that the cost of chronic diseases in the US and the world far outweighs the cost of prevention.

But Hackett says promoting physical activity in the most vulnerable populations can lead to longer healthier lives and healthy workforces

“Working together to make community gardens in schools, senior centers or vacant lots promotes physical activity, act as ‘teachable moments’ for good nutrition and proper preparation of fruits and vegetables while producing something that everyone can enjoy,” she said.

Hackett said due to the United States being emulated in the rest of the world, changing our habits and behaviors towards good health can make positive changes in the rest of the world.

For more information on the Partnering4Health project, you can visit https://www.sophe.org/focus-areas/chronicdiseases/ partnering-4-health/ or www.dhpe.org.